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Msgr. theodore baumann retires after 40 years as priest

Story and photos by LIZ QUIRIN
Messenger editor

At 66 Msgr. Theodore Baumann was eligible to retire, but retiring was not something he wanted to do, he said.
“I enjoy the priesthood,” he said, and parish work and the interaction between pastor and people.

However, a staph infection in his hip and lower back in 2005 eventually caused him to reconsider his plans. He spent time convalescing at the Hincke Residence for retired priests.

“I wanted to get back and be active, but it just didn’t work,” he said.

At the time he was happily the pastor at St. Joseph Parish in Freeburg with care of Our Lady of Lourdes in Sparta, but the needs of those parishes proved too demanding for him.

He needed a smaller parish, one that did not have the additional demands of an elementary school, and St. Mary’s in Valmeyer fit the bill, where he was again, happy to be the pastor.

He found the people at Valmeyer warm and welcoming and growing. The parish has begun a process to build a new parish center for about $510,000, and ground breaking was held Jan. 13 with expected completion in May, he said.
Again, the energy needed for liturgies, for baptisms and other sacramental events proved too strenuous.

He retired as pastor of St. Mary Parish in Valmeyer as of Jan. 15. Father Urban Osuji, CM of Nigeria took over as temporary administrator of the parish at that time.

While Msgr. Baumann has made Hincke his permanent residence, he said he will continue to attend meetings at St. Mary’s to assist Father Osuji as the new parish center takes shape. He also expects to offer to help other parishes on weekends as he is able.

Msgr. Baumann said preaching “has always been a joy. I work on what I will say on Sunday as I prepare prayerfully during the week, reading the Scriptures and thinking about what I will say.”

He found “joy in serving the people. I enjoyed every parish, and I always enjoyed the people. I was never anxious to leave.”

Msgr. Baumann celebrated his 40th anniversary as a priest in 2007. He was pastor at St. Mary’s for about 18 months before he retired.

Ordained May 13, 1967, his first pastoral assignment in the diocese was as an associate at St. Mary’s in Carlyle. In 1972 he was appointed superintendent of the former St. John Children’s Home in Belleville where diocesan offices, Hincke-Sense Residence for Retired Priests are now located.

He was also responsible for Corpus Christi Parish in Shiloh, he said.

In 1977, he became pastor at St. Joseph’s in Cobden. In 1981 he began a two-year ministry as pastor of St. Anthony Parish in Lively Grove and the former St. Anthony Parish in Coulterville.

In 1983 he was appointed pastor of St. Andrew Parish in Murphysboro, and in 1991 he assumed the pastorate of St. Cecilia’s in Bartelso.

Eight years later, he went to St. Joseph’s in Freeburg and then on to St. Mary’s.

During his active ministry, Msgr. Baumann served the Belleville diocese in a number of roles. He was a member of the Priests’ Personnel Board, the Presbyteral Council, and from 1984-2006, the Diocesan College of Consultors. He also served as the dean of the North Central Deanery.